You took over l’auberge de Saint Remy de Provence with your husband Jonathan Wahid. Why did you choose to settle in this region?

It’s funny that you ask this because there is indeed a little story that explains our choice. After my apprenticeship, I’ve worked in the Luberon, in La Bastide de Marie, a kind of hotel or guest-house. I immediately loved it and I’ve thought that if I had to establish a restaurant one day, it would be there. This is exactly what happened, not in the Luberon but still in Provence.

Stéphane Layani, CEO of Rungis International Market, talks about his role as patron of the 2017 Fête de la Gastronomie.

Stéphane Layani, CEO of Rungis International Market, talks about his role as patron of the 2017 Fête de la Gastronomie, how he will be getting involved in the event, and what he makes of this year’s theme, “produce in the spotlight”.

How man makes food from the fruits of the earth

​Do you remember that time, quite a while ago now, when our ancestors used to munch on raw mammoth garnished with a few roots and wild herbs? They didn't have any sauce or mustard in those days….
Things have changed since, and now we cook our mammoth over a wood fire and dress our roots and herbs with cold pressed olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. We still eat roots - carrots, radishes, beetroot - but we like to vary how we eat them: raw carrot sticks, grated carrot, carrots cooked with cumin.